PicksInSix Gold Review: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom - Goodman Theatre
Stunning ‘Ma Rainey’ Revival at Goodman!
PicksInSix® Gold Review | Ed Tracy
The 1982 drama “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”—August Wilson’s study of Black music and culture in Chicago during the tumultuous 1920s—is the only one of ten plays in Wilson’s landmark Century Cycle set outside of Pittsburgh. The epic 1997 Goodman production, directed by Chuck Smith in collaboration with Wilson, looms largely at the top of a list of bold and inspiring productions in the rich 100-year history of the theater.
It’s difficult to discern if Wilson’s brilliant work shines brighter through Chicago’s gritty undertones or if the heart of Chicago theater beats more profoundly by Wilson’s attention. One thing is clear: the powerful force of Wilson’s legacy has helped to both expose and define the harsh realities of racial inequality and social injustice in America, whenever and wherever his plays are performed. And this production, at this time in Chicago with its phenomenal cast, provides a brilliant opportunity to experience the emotional thrust, the preciseness of the lyrical dialogue and the realization of Wilson’s complex characters.
Both director Smith and associate director and music director Harry Lennix, who played Levee in the 1997 production, have returned to forge the stunning revival that opened Monday night in the Albert. It is a story about the true-to-life presence of Ma Rainey (E. Faye Butler) whose unequalled talent and rebellious influence on the music of the era reflects the challenges that run through all of Wilson’s work. It is also a piece that has stood the test of time, as powerful and gripping a drama today as then with a dream team of a cast.
It’s March 1927 and Ma Rainey and her band—Sylvester (Jabrai Khaliq), Levee (Al’Jaleel McGhee), Toledo (Kelvin Roston Jr.) and Slow Drag (Cedric Young)—are gathering at a Southside recording studio run by Sturdyvant (Matt DeCaro) to record a new album. Ma’s manager Cutler (David Alan Anderson) must deal with Sturdy’s impatience when Ma and her entourage—nephew Irvin (Marc Grapey) and the sultry Dussie Mae (Tiffany Renee Johnson)—who are nowhere to be found.
In the meantime, Slyvester, Toledo and Slow Drag get along well in the rehearsal room, each loyal to Ma’s powerful influence and committed to doing the job they have been hired to do. The dynamic changes significantly when Levee arrives, decked out in his new shoes and emboldened by Sturdy’s commitment to use his arrangements with a promise to record other songs with a band of his own. The others don’t buy it, even when Cutler tells them that the decision to use Levee’s arrangements has been made.
That conversation sets the stage for Ma’s blistering arrival and the realization that there is only one opinion that matters in the room. Ma Rainey arrives in a whirlwind of commotion, driven by the presence of policeman (Scott Aiello) who wants to arrest Ma for a traffic accident on the way to the studio. To nobody’s surprise, the unfolding plans for the session do not jive at all with Ma either. The band is sent back down for rehearsal with Irvin, who will be doing things Ma’s way, despite Irvin’s pronounced speech impediment.
The conflict comes to a head when Ma and Levee face off on the direction of the recording of her signature piece “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Levee represents a new and innovative talent in jazz music but blindly resists the notion that white recording producers are only in it for themselves. Ma Rainey and her contemporaries in the band recognize that they will receive only token payments and little respect for their work, while Levee’s hopes continue to be dashed at virtually every turn, fueled by deep-seated images of his youth that eventually prove to be inescapable.
The true power of Wilson’s work lies in Levee’s struggles. McGhee’s commanding performance fires on every cylinder in the challenging role, as the emotionally unhinged Levee shifts on a slow burn from impassioned musician to deranged psychopath, the helpless victim of his own violent and embattled childhood.
The production runs expertly through Butler’s super-charged performance as Rainey, alternating between her larger-than-life presence, striking fear in virtually everyone within earshot, to her mesmerizing vocal’s and the touchingly quiet reflective moments where Butler peels back the public image and shares Rainey’s innermost feelings with Sylvester. Director Smith’s pacing expertly elevates the lighthearted exchanges and so solidly stages this drama that, at the most gripping moments, you can hear a pin drop.
It all unfolds on Linda Buchanan’s gritty set design, an urban, tri-level structure capped by a control room above the main recording studio that is connected by stairs to a lower level rehearsal room. Jared Gooding’s stylized lighting design defines the areas and extends beyond the staged interior providing a reminder of the Chicago streets just outside the door. Evelyn M. Danner’s costumes expertly evoke the period, especially Ma Rainey’s resplendent ensemble. The music direction under Lennix features orchestrations by Dwight Andrews and sound design by Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen, all placing Goodman Theatre’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” at the top of the list for shows to see right now in Chicago.
PHOTO|Justin Barbin
Goodman Theatre
presents
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Albert Theatre
170 N Dearborn
Extended through May 3, 2026
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